Rice Farmer Awarded $500,000 In Crop Contamination Lawsuit

A federal jury in St. Louis awarded $500,248 on Wednesday to a farmer who claimed that he and his family had lost just over $1.5 million when genetically modified rice contaminated the U.S. rice supply. The trial, which lasted more than three weeks, is the fifth trial in federal and state courts in which farmers have been awarded damages. In all, hundreds of lawsuits filed by thousands of farmers and others against Bayer CropScience have alleged that the release of LibertyLink, a herbicide-resistant rice, into the rice supply cost farmers millions. In two state trials in Arkansas, jurors also had found in favor of farmers, Downing said. A spokesman said jurors awarded farmers $1 million in the first trial and $48 million in the second, including punitive damages of $42 million in the second trial.